Agronomic Evaluation of Alfalfa Cultivars in Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

From April 1995 to June 1998, thirty five alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars (cvs.) were evaluated in a field trial at the “Depressão Central” ecoclimatic region, in southern Brazil. Two years after sowing, 30 cultivars were excluded from the test due to their poor overall agronomic performance, mainly low forage DM yields. The remaining cultivars: Crioula (local genotype used as a check), Victoria, Rio and P 30 are hay-type cultivars while Alfagraze is a grazing-tolerant type. Twenty-two harvests were made and no significant differences were found for total DM yields among cvs. Crioula, Victoria, Rio and P 30; however, cv. Crioula yielded 25,854 kg.ha-1, showing a significant (P\u3c 0.05) superior performance compared to cv. Alfagraze (17,478 kg.ha-1). The highest average annual and seasonal DM yields were obtained by cv. Crioula and spring was the best growing season. Cv. Alfagraze showed the highest crude protein content and leaf to stem ratio. Incidence of foliar diseases was low, affecting all cultivars similarly. Cv. Victoria showed the lowest stand persistence. Alfalfa root density did not differ among cultivars and the highest average value was found at the 0-10 cm topsoil layer. Results indicate that cvs. Crioula and Alfagraze are well-adapted, productive and persistent alfalfa genotypes for hay production and grazing, respectively, under the soil and climatic conditions of the “Depressão Central” region

Inclusion of on-site renewables in design-stage building life cycle assessments

This paper investigates the inclusion of renewables in building life cycle assessments. On-site renewable electricity generation is increasingly common in the built environment, but existing guidance for the inclusion of these renewable systems in design-stage life cycle assessment is limited. The life cycle assessment of a building with 42.8 kWpeak solar photovoltaic array is used as a case study to investigate the effect of different assumptions on the assessment outcome. The case study results are then used to suggest good practice. The paper also highlights where further research is required to provide reliable design-stage assessments in future

Electrochemical oxidation of oxalic acid in the presence of halides at boron doped diamond electrode

Aim of this work is to discuss the electrochemical oxidation of oxalic acid (OA), analyzing the influence of NaCl and NaBr. Experiments were carried out at boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes, in alkaline media. BDD electrodes have a poor superficial adsorptivity so their great stability toward oxidation allows the reaction to take place with reactants and intermediates in a non-adsorbed state. The process is significantly accelerated by the presence of a halogen salt in solution; interestingly, the mediated process does not depend on applied current density. Based on the results, bromide was selected as a suitable mediator during OA oxidation at BDD. Br- primarily acts in the volume of the solution, with the formation of strong oxidants; while Cl- action has shown lower improvements in the OA oxidation rate at BDD respect to the results reported using Pt electrode. Finally, the parameters of removal efficiency and energy consumption for the electrochemical incineration of OA were calculated. O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir a oxidação eletroquímica do ácido oxálico (AO), analisando a influência do NaCl e NaBr. Experimentos foram realizados em eletrodos de diamante dopados com boro (DDB), em meio alcalino. Eletrodos DDB têm uma baixa adsortividade superficial, portanto sua grande estabilidade frente à oxidação permite que a reação ocorra com reagentes e intermediários não adsorvidos. O processo é significativamente acelerado pela presença de sal de halogênio na solução; curiosamente, o processo mediado não depende da densidade de corrente aplicada. Com base nos resultados, o brometo foi selecionado como um mediador apropriado durante a oxidação de AO em DDB. Br- age primeiramente no volume da solução, com a formação de oxidantes fortes, enquanto a ação do Cl- mostrou melhoras mais baixas na oxidação do AO em BDD, com relação aos resultados relatados usando eletrodo de Pt. Finalmente, os parâmetros de eficiência de remoção e consumo de energia para a incineração eletroquímica de AO foram calculados

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With Potentially Curable Malignancies: A National Registry Dataset Analysis

Background: Although a common challenge for patients and clinicians, there is little population-level evidence on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in individuals diagnosed with potentially curable cancer. Objectives: We investigated CVD rates in patients with common potentially curable malignancies and evaluated the associations between patient and disease characteristics and CVD prevalence. Methods: The study included cancer registry patients diagnosed in England with stage I to III breast cancer, stage I to III colon or rectal cancer, stage I to III prostate cancer, stage I to IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer, stage I to IV diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and stage I to IV Hodgkin lymphoma from 2013 to 2018. Linked hospital records and national CVD databases were used to identify CVD. The rates of CVD were investigated according to tumor type, and associations between patient and disease characteristics and CVD prevalence were determined. Results: Among the 634,240 patients included, 102,834 (16.2%) had prior CVD. Men, older patients, and those living in deprived areas had higher CVD rates. Prevalence was highest for non-small-cell lung cancer (36.1%) and lowest for breast cancer (7.7%). After adjustment for age, sex, the income domain of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, and Charlson comorbidity index, CVD remained higher in other tumor types compared to breast cancer patients. Conclusions: There is a significant overlap between cancer and CVD burden. It is essential to consider CVD when evaluating national and international treatment patterns and cancer outcomes

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With Potentially Curable Malignancies: A National Registry Dataset Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although a common challenge for patients and clinicians, there is little population-level evidence on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in individuals diagnosed with potentially curable cancer. OBJECTIVES: We investigated CVD rates in patients with common potentially curable malignancies and evaluated the associations between patient and disease characteristics and CVD prevalence. METHODS: The study included cancer registry patients diagnosed in England with stage I to III breast cancer, stage I to III colon or rectal cancer, stage I to III prostate cancer, stage I to IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer, stage I to IV diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and stage I to IV Hodgkin lymphoma from 2013 to 2018. Linked hospital records and national CVD databases were used to identify CVD. The rates of CVD were investigated according to tumor type, and associations between patient and disease characteristics and CVD prevalence were determined. RESULTS: Among the 634,240 patients included, 102,834 (16.2%) had prior CVD. Men, older patients, and those living in deprived areas had higher CVD rates. Prevalence was highest for non-small-cell lung cancer (36.1%) and lowest for breast cancer (7.7%). After adjustment for age, sex, the income domain of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, and Charlson comorbidity index, CVD remained higher in other tumor types compared to breast cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant overlap between cancer and CVD burden. It is essential to consider CVD when evaluating national and international treatment patterns and cancer outcomes

The importance of sex as a risk factor for hospital readmissions due to pulmonary diseases

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary diseases are a common and costly cause of 30-day readmissions. Few studies have focused on the difference in risk for rehospitalization between men and women in older patients. In this study we analyzed the association between sex and the risk of readmission in a cohort of patients admitted to the hospital for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and other major pulmonary diseases. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study based on administrative data collected in the Veneto Region in 2016. We included 14,869 hospital admissions among residents aged 6565\u2009years for diagnosis related groups (DRGs) of the most common disorders of the respiratory system: bronchitis and asthma, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, and COPD. Multilevel logistic regressions were performed to test the association between 30-day hospital readmission and sex, adjusting for confounding factors. RESULTS: For bronchitis and asthma, male patients had significantly higher odds of 30-day readmission than female patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11-3.87). The odds of readmission for men were also significantly higher for pneumonia (aOR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.13-1.72), for pulmonary edema and respiratory failure (aOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.05-1.55), and for COPD (aOR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.00-1.81). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that male sex is a major risk factors for readmission in patients aged more than 65\u2009years with a primary pulmonary diagnosis. More studies are needed to understand the underlying determinants of this phenomena and to provide targets for future interventions

Assessing habitat-related disturbance in bird communities: Applying hemeroby and generalism as indicators

We tested the application of the concept of hemeroby and generalism at community level, on a set of birds occurring in various habitats of central Italy characterized by different level of disturbance. In each habitat-related bird community, we applied the recently published species-specific score in hemeroby (a proxy of habitat-related disturbance; HSi) and hemerobiotic diversity (a proxy of generalism; H’Hi) to local species frequency, obtaining weighted values at community level (HStot and H’Htot). The relationship between HStot vs. H’Htot showed an increasing trend moving from reed beds through forests and mosaics to urban communities. Quadratic model (best fit) evidenced a significant correlation between these variables and a tendency toward a hump-shaped curve, corroborating results already observed at species level (intermediate generalism hypothesis). The co-inertia analysis discriminated four groups of habitat-related communities, characterized by species with different levels of disturbance-sensitivity (expressed by HSi) and generalism (expressed by hemerobiotic diversity; H’Hi): (i) forest type-related, where mature wood communities were separated from a coppiced wood one; (ii) communities of moderately disturbed agricultural habitats; (iii) communities embedded in highly disturbed mosaics, and (iv) a group including either a highly disturbed urban habitat or a low disturbed wetland reed bed, with highly specialized species (respectively, synanthropic species and water-related species). Total scores in hemeroby and hemerobiotic diversity, expressing the composition in species with different disturbance preference and generalism, might act as good community-based indicators of degree of naturalness, especially for forest habitat types